Air Canada’s Reaction To Sewing Needle, For one Air Canada passenger this week the old joke about bad airline food was no laughing matter after finding a sewing needle in a sandwich. Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said the finding was made on a flight from Victoria to Toronto on Monday of “what appears to be a sewing needle in a pre-packaged sandwich on board our flight.”

“The safety of our customers and crew is our first priority, and we are taking this matter very seriously,” she said.

“As soon as we became aware of this incident, we immediately contacted the caterers that provision our flights as well as the authorities, and full investigations including one by the police are currently underway.”

Mah added the airline was “working closely with our caterers to ensure heightened security measures have been put in place.”

She said there had been no other reports of needles in airline food, but provided few other details. Deliberate food tampering is a punishable offence under the Criminal Code, ranging from mischief to charges of causing injury or death.

The needle-laced sandwich is one of several found on an airline this July.

In mid-July, contaminated turkey sandwiches were reported on board four Delta Air Lines flights departing Amsterdam for Seattle, Minneapolis and two to Atlanta.

At least five needle-tainted sandwiches were discovered and one passenger was injured. The FBI have launched a criminal investigation, as have Dutch authorities.

Those sandwiches were provided by Gate Gourmet out of their Amsterdam kitchen. The company, which bills itself as the “world’s largest independent provider of catering services for airlines and railroads,” has more than 100 locations worldwide.

The company states it meets food safety guidelines developed by NASA, standards that go beyond local and national regulations.

Gate Gourmet spokeswoman Christina Ulosevich said in a statement to the media that her company is taking the matter “very seriously” and had launched their own “full-scale investigation.” She said the company was also “heightening our already stringent safety and security procedures, to prevent any recurrence.”

Gate Gourmet does provide some food services to Air Canada. However, Ulosevich told the media that Gate Gourmet did not service the route the needle was found on.